Abstract
Objectives: Virtual patient simulation (VPS) is used in the education of health care professionals. This method brings an opportunity for the learner to examine necessary diagnostic and therapeutic skills. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of VPS on clinical reasoning abilities of medical students and to evaluate their attitude towards VPS in clinical endocrinology course in a teacher centered educational environment. Methods: Fifty-one medical students in their 6th academic year were simply randomized in two groups, the simulation and the control. The students in the simulation group were provided by an application which presented them virtual case scenarios on diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules and osteomalacia. All the students sat for a diagnostic test at the beginning and at the end of the course. The test comprised a series of essay questions matched for their academic level and closely related to the case scenarios. They were also asked to complete a questionnaire to assess their attitude towards the application. Results: Participants in both groups did not have any statistical differences in scientific background in basic sciences (P=0.672) and prior clinical examinations (P=0.376). At completion of the course the mean score of the students in the simulation group improved significantly compared to the students in the control group by 3.5 vs. 1.0 points (P=0.001). The students found the application worthful and showed a positive attitude towards it. Conclusions: Virtual patient simulation improved clinical reasoning abilities of medical students in the context of a traditional teaching/learning environment.
Highlights
Active engagement of learners with various experiences is fundamental for effective learning to occur, and self-directed learning has been suggested as a favorable method that promotes lifelong learning in medicine (Murad & Varkey, 2008)
Virtual patient simulation is increasingly used in the education of health care professionals
At the end of the study, the average score of the simulation group and the control group in post-test exam showed a very statistically significant difference; the mean scores in simulation group increased by 3.5 points compared to only 1.0 point in the controls
Summary
Active engagement of learners with various experiences is fundamental for effective learning to occur, and self-directed learning has been suggested as a favorable method that promotes lifelong learning in medicine (Murad & Varkey, 2008). Virtual patient simulation is increasingly used in the education of health care professionals. This method brings a special opportunity for the learner to develop and examine necessary diagnostic and therapeutic skills before encountering actual patients in the real world (Klein, 2000; Tang, Lan, & Chang, 2012). Virtual environment provides a situation for students to encounter patient management from the beginning to the end. In this way, the learner develops relevant basic practical skills and becomes competent in complex cognitive abilities such as decision making and treatment planning (Janda et al, 2004)
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